- Security operatives take over protest venue in Benin
- We were shot, SARS still working’, Lagos protesters insist
A cutlass-wielding man has been arrested at Lekki tollgate in Lagos State.
Young persons marking the first anniversary of the EndSARS protests had converged on the tollgate on Wednesday despite warnings from the police.
The police had said they would not allow protesters to gather there so as to prevent hoodlums from hijacking their protests.
However, a procession of vehicles was allowed by the security operatives.
Hakeem Odumosu, Commissioner of Police in Lagos, had said approval was given for the procession to hold between 8am and 10am.
But a crowd gathered at the scene after 10am, wielding placards and chanting antigovernment songs.
The police had fired teargas to disperse the protesters but they ran away momentarily and later regrouped.
Moments later, a man dressed in a jean trouser and a multi-coloured long sleeve shirt was arrested with cutlass.
As policemen subdued him, other protesters demanded that he should be released.
Some persons, including protesters and a journalist, had earlier been arrested at the tollgate but the Commissioner of Police ordered the release of the journalist.
Odumosu stated this when he addressed journalists at the scene of the protest.
“I discussed with them (the organisers) and they said they will end the protest by 10 o’clock. Any other person doing it now, that’s nuisance.”
“Some have guns, some are with machete and hammer; are they protesters or miscreants?
‘We were shot, SARS still working’, Lagos protesters insist
There was a large turnout of protesters at the Lekki tollgate on Wednesday leading to gridlock in the area.
The protesters insisted that some of them were shot at the Lekki tollgate on October 20, 2020.
One of the protesters, who showed scars from the injuries that he secured claimed that he saw three young people being shot.
But the Federal Government had denied that soldiers neither shot nor killed protesters.
However, the protester showed our correspondents covering the events some images on his phone.
The protester who identified himself as AK said, “I was shot. They shot us. I saw three young people on the floor. We were shot. Government is lying.”
Another protester lamented that there was no evidence to show that the banned Special Anti-Robbery Squad is no longer operating.
He complained that one year after the #EndSARS protest, youths are still “extorted” and “brutalised” in the country.
“There is still SaRS. They still brutalise us. We are here to tell the police to stop the brutality and extortion,” he said.
Shortly before the police dispersed the protesters with tear gas, another youth said, “Nothing has changed as regards oppression and brutality.”
Nigerian youths held memorial protests in Lagos and Abuja on Wednesday, one year after security forces violently suppressed mass protests against police brutality and bad governance.
Under heavy police watch, dozens of protesters rallied in a procession of cars waving green and white national flags from windows at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos, the site of the crackdown on last year’s #EndSARS demonstrations.
Nigerian singer Falz was among those who rallied in Lagos.
“It is impossible for us not to memorialise our fallen heroes,” Falz wrote. “We will never ever forget.”
“Innocent Nigerian citizens waved flags and sang till they were shot at, injured and killed.”
Police deployed at Lekki allowed the cars to pass through the tollgate as protesters blasted horns and chanted for justice.
Last year’s rallies began over brutality by the SARS police unit but snowballed into protests over bad governance in the largest mass demonstrations in Nigeria’s modern history.
Security operatives take over protest venue in Benin
A clash between members of the Civil Society Organisation and the members of the local vigilante was averted on Wednesday at Ring Road, Benin venue of the first anniversary of the #EndSARS protest, which rocked the country last year.
Security operatives comprising the Nigeria Police, Department of State Services, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Edo State Security Network (local vigilante), as early as 7:30 am occupied the Benin Museum Park venue meant for the one year EndSARS memorial in Benin, Edo State.
Despite the heavy security presence, trouble started when one of the CSO members was about to drive into the Museum Park but was stopped by one of the local vigilantes who closed the gate and requested the occupants to come down from the vehicle.
This angered the CSO member who came down from the vehicle and was almost exchanging blows with the local vigilante man.
Apart from this, the atmosphere was peaceful as the combined security operatives were strategically positioned at major routes that lead to the park.
At the main entrance to the Museum Park (Forestry Route), four security Hilux vehicles were parked as of the time of filing this report.
